Entrance to the Palace
The external facades have a uniform and identical articulation. The outer contour of the palace walls is hefty, distinctly graphic, and distinct. The use of rusticated, rustic plinths, strong vertical rustic bands, and heavy sculptural detail suggests the building's fort-like appearance.
The facades are developed in two main horizontal bands: the plinth, which encompasses the entire basement space, and the main story covering the ground floor and the first floor. Both upper stories are rhythmized by vertical, rusticated bands laid over the walls' protruding sections. Individual elements of the facade are highlighted by colors: white for the cornice and the protruding bands of the ground and first-floor walls, yellow for the walls of the ground and first floors, and gray for architectural details and rustication around the windows.
Above the windows, stucco masks – mascarons – are composed as window keystones and cornice decorations. They are located on the external facades as well as in the courtyard. Each mask has a different facial expression; some are scary, others funny, terrifying, mocking, giggling, looking indulgently, surprised, and some are even shocked. In short, they represent a wide range of moods and behaviors, both human and perhaps devilish. In total, there are one hundred and ninety-seven of them on the Żagań palace.
Surrounding the palace is a deep, dry moat, across which two bridges are thrown - formerly wooden, now brick-built, which harks back to the pallazzo in fortezza of Wallenstein. On either side of the main gate, above it, we can notice holes and wheels for operating a drawbridge.
Red plaques placed at the entrance inform us about the number of offices located in the ground floor part of the Żagań Palace. The ground floor served a similar purpose in the mid-nineteenth century when it housed offices and residences of people working at the ducal court, including: the chief administration office, official room, the residence of the court superintendent, Schatzberg's room and mezzanine, or the Count's lounge. This is approximately six and a half thousand square meters in area and about a hundred usable rooms.
The Baroque palace, along with the landscape park, is among the most precious palaces and manors in Poland. Since the year two thousand and one, it has been on the list, compiled by the Center for Monument Documentation in Warsaw, of the most important architectural heritage sites alongside Baranów Sandomierski, Kozłówka, Łańcut, Pszczyna, Łazienki, and Wilanów.
The facades are developed in two main horizontal bands: the plinth, which encompasses the entire basement space, and the main story covering the ground floor and the first floor. Both upper stories are rhythmized by vertical, rusticated bands laid over the walls' protruding sections. Individual elements of the facade are highlighted by colors: white for the cornice and the protruding bands of the ground and first-floor walls, yellow for the walls of the ground and first floors, and gray for architectural details and rustication around the windows.
Above the windows, stucco masks – mascarons – are composed as window keystones and cornice decorations. They are located on the external facades as well as in the courtyard. Each mask has a different facial expression; some are scary, others funny, terrifying, mocking, giggling, looking indulgently, surprised, and some are even shocked. In short, they represent a wide range of moods and behaviors, both human and perhaps devilish. In total, there are one hundred and ninety-seven of them on the Żagań palace.
Surrounding the palace is a deep, dry moat, across which two bridges are thrown - formerly wooden, now brick-built, which harks back to the pallazzo in fortezza of Wallenstein. On either side of the main gate, above it, we can notice holes and wheels for operating a drawbridge.
Red plaques placed at the entrance inform us about the number of offices located in the ground floor part of the Żagań Palace. The ground floor served a similar purpose in the mid-nineteenth century when it housed offices and residences of people working at the ducal court, including: the chief administration office, official room, the residence of the court superintendent, Schatzberg's room and mezzanine, or the Count's lounge. This is approximately six and a half thousand square meters in area and about a hundred usable rooms.
The Baroque palace, along with the landscape park, is among the most precious palaces and manors in Poland. Since the year two thousand and one, it has been on the list, compiled by the Center for Monument Documentation in Warsaw, of the most important architectural heritage sites alongside Baranów Sandomierski, Kozłówka, Łańcut, Pszczyna, Łazienki, and Wilanów.